


Serotonin, Dopamine

by Lichterin



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Bathing/Washing, Comfort No Hurt, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dean loves his little brother so much, Fluff, M/M, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Nostalgic Dean, Sam loves Dean too (a lot), Sharing a Bath, Sharing a Bed, Tenderness, a little bit of Massaging, the softest kisses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-26 11:18:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13856709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lichterin/pseuds/Lichterin
Summary: Sam and Dean take a bath in a heart shaped tub after an exhausting hunt. (And then everything just kind of happens)





	Serotonin, Dopamine

**Author's Note:**

> I have never finished a fic so fast (and with fast I mean not even two weeks since I've had the idea, which is crazy for me).
> 
> Enjoyyy

It just kind of happened.

“Two queens, please,” Sam had said to the desk clerk five minutes ago.

“We’ve got a single queen bedroom and the honeymoon suite left. ‘S one king bed,” the desk clerk had said in the most disinterested and sleepy voice, though it was barely starting to darken outside.

“We’ll take the king then.”

“Here’s your key, enjoy your stay… or whatever.” He had propped his chin in his hand and taken out his phone. Sam and Dean had shrugged and made their way to the room.

They had shared beds before, after all it happened that a motel only had one room left, and usually “honeymoon suites” weren’t anything special at the motels they stayed at. Most of them were shit like the rest of the rooms, or they simply didn’t have them.

But this room… wasn’t so bad at all, quite big too. Okay, the thin violet curtains on the bedposts were a bit much. And Dean immediately brushed the rose petals off the sheets. But all in all, it was cleaner than what they expected from this particular motel chain.

“Okay, what the hell is _that_ ,” he said, attention focused on the red heart shaped bathtub behind the bed and the divider.

“A bathtub?” replied Sam, throwing their duffel bags onto the armchair by the door.

“I can see that. Why isn’t it in the bathroom?”

He spotted the door presumably leading to the bathroom and went in. Two sinks, a toilet, towels, way to much shampoo stuff and even more rose petals. “Sam they don’t even have a shower in here,” he groaned.

Sam, who was laying face down on the bed, raised his head when Dean came back into the main room. “Seriously?”

Dean nodded and frowned at the disgustingly painted ceiling he hadn’t noticed before. Even _that_ was plastered with little hearts. At least there weren’t any stains.

He sighed and contemplated what to do. They had just finished a poltergeist, who hadn’t been gentle with them at all, and they were both aching for a hot shower. Especially Sam had taken quite a beating by various furniture until Dean had found and burned the necklace the poltergeist had been bound to.

Sam stood up and inspected the tub. “Let’s just take a bath.”

“What, like together?”

“Why not, it’s big enough.”

Dean skeptically eyed the tub. It was heart shaped. Dean Winchester didn’t take baths in a heart shaped… anything.

“Fuck no, Sam. I’m not a chick. And you aren’t either.”

But Sam was already filling water into the tub.

“So what? I’m gonna, you might as well join me.” Sam shrugged and went to the bathroom. 

What was bothering him wasn’t the prospect of sharing a bath with Sam, they never had that kind of reservations (not that they purposefully got naked around the other, it just wasn’t a big deal), but it was more the fact of doing so in a honeymoon suite, in a girly bathtub, surrounded by plastic hearts.

But the steaming water kept on flowing into the tub. And he could really use it, so…

Why the fuck not.

He was taking off his shirt when Sam came back with an armful of towels and a few bottles. Sam pulled the chair from the desk at the window closer to them and placed the towels on it. Then he dropped one bottle next to the tub and opened another.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Dean asked horrified as Sam poured the liquid into the water.

Sam grinned at him. “Bubbles.”

“Definitely not.” Their whole badass reputation could be ruined by that. They had one, right?

Sam ignored him, and opened a jar with little blue stones.

“Bath salt,” Sam answered his unasked question. He scattered a lid full of the salt into the water and then reached in to mix everything together, helping the bubbles rise and turning the water blue. A pleasant smell rose up that Dean couldn’t quite place.

“What’s that smell?”

“Um… Sweet rain? I dunno. But the jar says it’s muscle soothing.” He turned off the tap with the tub about halfway filled and the bubbles covering the whole surface.

Sam stripped down quick and efficiently and stepped into the bathtub, leaning back into one half of the heart.

Dean hesitated with his hands at the top of his jeans.

He took a breath and said, “We’re never talking about this, ever, Sam,” while simultaneously toeing off his shoes and socks, then finally pulling down his jeans and boxers.

The water was fucking amazing. Bordering on too hot, but so perfect. Dean moaned as his body eased into the curve. He stretched his legs out, letting his feet tangle with Sam’s at the tip of the tub. It was truly larger than a normal one, his knees were completely covered in the water (some of it swapping over the rim when they moved) while it also nearly reached to his shoulders.

They sat together in silence, both giving into the feeling of leisure until Sam gave a little laugh.

“What?” Dean asked. They were so close, comfortably able to watch each other with the way the heart shape made them sit slightly turned toward each other.

“Nothing,” Sam smiled. “I was just thinking what all the monsters and demons would think of us if they could see us.” He laughed.

Dean shot back a crooked grin. “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking earlier, too.”

He cleared his throat and continued. “No soul’s gonna know about this, you got me?”

“I heard you the first time,” said Sam and closed his eyes with the smile still on his lips, scooting a bit forward to lean his head against the rim of the tub. His knees were sticking out now and Dean gave them a playful slap with the back of his hand for that comment, foam splashing off in the process.

“Remember when we used to do that as kids?” Dean said after another long but comfortable silence. The bubbles were starting to fizzle out around them. They hadn’t held up very long.

“Bathe together?” Sam asked. “Hm… Vaguely.”

“We would play with those plastic soldiers and we also had some other stuff. Fun times,” said Dean. He remembered it more clearly, he had been four years older after all. “Yeah… Until dad made us switch to showers, because they’re more practical.”

Sam hummed and tipped his head to the side. Then, he looked up and carefully immersed the back of his head in the water, wetting his hair. He sat up and reached for the shampoo bottle he had dropped to the floor earlier.

Dean watched amused until Sam offered him the bottle and asked, “Wash my hair?”

He raised an eyebrow and took the shampoo out of Sam’s hand. “What are you? Five?”

Sam grinned and positioned himself so he was with his back to Dean, sitting in the middle of the tub with his knees pulled up to his chest. Dean sighed and manhandled him until he was properly seated in front of him, waist bracketed by his legs and the water rippling around their chests.He waited for Sam to say something, but he didn’t - Dean would’ve shrugged it off anyway.

He poured a bit of shampoo into his hand, put aside the bottle and rubbed it into Sam’s hair. His hands massaged his skull while he worked, nails scraping lightly against the scalp, enjoying the feeling of Sam’s long strands sliding between his fingers. 

Sam’s head was tilted back slightly, but Dean took care not to burn out Sam’s eyes and drew the suds away from his forehead, squeezing it out onto his back and spreading the lather across his shoulders, washing his backside while he was at it. Sam pressed into his touch like a cat as he rubbed the heels of his soapy hands into his muscles.

Finally, he contemplated how he would get the foam out of the hair without a shower head. Sam was practically purring under his touch and giving a whiny sound when Dean stopped roaming his hands across his back.

“Gotta help me here man, lean back a bit.”

Sam slid forward and did, awkwardly so, and Dean scooped water up to wash away the shampoo as good as it would go like this.

When he was done, Sam sitting up again and his hands on his shoulders, Dean continued to knead his brother’s back, brushing over scars Sam didn’t use to have as a child. He moved his thumb along one on his shoulder blades and swallowed as he remembered the fight with the ghoul that had caused this. He could recount that for every scar he had witnessed the making or aftermath of. That was to say, most of them, really.

He wrapped his arms around Sam’s belly, resting his cheek on his shoulder. Sam sighed and put a hand over Dean’s, stroking across the palm with the pad of his thumb before holding the hand in his.

Dean’s throat closed up and he would rather die than admit tears were welling up in his eyes. But then he thought better of it, after all it was Sam he was sitting here with.

The water sloshed against them as Dean adjusted their bodies again. Leaning back he pressed Sam closer against his chest, squeezing him tight and then keeping him in a light hug. Sam tipped his head against him and buried his face in his neck. His breath was even and slow like he was sleeping, but Dean knew he was still awake. He let his body join Sam’s in that deep calmness, the tension seeping from him like it didn’t before, leaving him heavy and loose.

Sam was a welcome weight against his chest, and Dean shifted his arms so they were above Sam’s, holding him completely in his embrace.

Dean glanced down at Sam, his baby brother he had protected all his life, now all muscled up and bigger than him, and yet he looked so vulnerable and small in his arms. All Dean wanted to do was protect him from the bad in the world. And as long as he could hold him like this both of them were fine.

He placed a light kiss on his forehead, making Sam smile. His heart clenched.

The desire to shower him in kisses until he forgot all the pain and sadness and despair rose inside him, consuming him and not letting go.

Eventually it had gotten so dark outside Dean could barely make out Sam any longer. Sam’s skin was hotter against him than the water that had gone lukewarm, probably a clue to get dry and go to bed. Dean could tell Sam was starting to fall asleep and as much as he cared about him, getting that sasquatch out of the tub and into the bed would be too much of a hassle. Not that he wouldn’t do it if it came to it. He smiled.

“Sammy,” he whispered and reached for his cheek, caressing it until Sam sleepily opened his eyes. 

Dean gently nudged him. “Let’s go to bed.”

Sam gave a small nod and took a second before he stood and climbed out of the tub, Dean following him. They patted themselves dry, not even bothering to turn on the lights, and climbed into bed still naked.

Cocooned in the silky sheets and facing each other, a rush of affection flowed through Dean as Sam watched him with a soft expression. Sometimes he had a hard time believing Sam cared as much for him as he did for him, but in moments like this everything felt right.

This was how they slept most of the time when they were in two single beds. On the edge of the mattress, the closest point to the other bed, heads turned in the direction of their brother. More often than not Sam was the last thing he saw before he closed his eyes and the first thing when he woke up.

Just like on seperate beds, they now seemed to gravitate toward each other. Sam took his hand and brought it up to his lips, kissing the knuckles, before they simultaneously shifted closer. Dean wrapped his arm around his broad shoulders and Sam’s arm found his waist, their legs overlapping.

Dean’s mind filled with memories from when his little brother was still that - little. Limbs bony and lanky and just that bit smaller than him. Or even younger than that, when he was chubby with baby fat, easy to carry and tuck in. He wanted to keep him like that forever, give him comfort and protection from the scary world around them.

Looking at Sam now, he could find traces of that little boy without the pain, without the horror that had happened to him. His face was soft after the bath, happy and stripped of all the hurt. Everything slowed down, their eyes locked into each other, and Dean - Dean felt unworthy, lying with Sam who was pure and beautiful, skin warm beneath his touch and eyes so full of love.

Dean, so overwhelmed by adoration until he felt like he couldn’t breathe, leaned in to close the space between them - that little bit left - until their lips connected in a touch so sweet and tender it was barely there.

The kiss was as gentle as the moment. A delicate tingle of pressure, a faint whisper of a dream, just a tad shy of feeling like reality.

He moved his hand up Sam’s back, and Sam gave a small mewling sounds, breaking the cloud around them. Dean parted their mouths just enough to look at Sam, whose eyes fluttered open at the loss, lips curling into a subtle smile.

Dean never thought Sam would reject him, and his throat closed up, his chest hurting in the best possible way as he watched Sam - couldn’t stop watching him, even as Sam closed his eyes again in a shallow attempt to hide the tears that were anything but sad.

His little brother moved impossibly closer, placing his head under Dean’s chin, into the crook of his neck. And Dean knew they would wake up interlaced like this, hearts tangled with the other’s, arms pressing their bodies close, feeling warm all over with morning breath mixing between their lips.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! <3
> 
> (And holy shit, thanks for all the kudos, omg!)


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